The meadow mutiny: why a rewilding scheme sparked a residents’ revolt

The revolt began with 60-year-old customer service worker Martin White. “Looking out my window, I just couldn’t bear to see it,” he says. “So I took the lawnmower out.” Soon, his retired neighbour Gary Wheatley, 63, joined him. Then Dudley’s husband, John. And then the whole street was getting their hands dirty – raking up the shorn grass and gleefully clumping it into wheelbarrows. At one point in the multiday rebellion, there were five lawnmowers on the go. “It really brought the community together,” says 68-year-old retired science technician Linda Lee. People got to know neighbours they previously hadn’t uttered more than a few words to. A jug of squash was shared around. Lee’s husband, Mark, even shelled out hundreds of pounds for a secondhand ride-on mower that he spent hours fixing up in the garage.